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I’ve seen Annie Downs via the simulcast of IF: Gatherings. But I know her in a different way after having read her book, Looking For Lovely, Collecting the Moments that Matter.

I really enjoyed this book for several reasons. It’s an easy read with short chapters, and Annie is funny. She often made me smile. It’s honest as Annie talks about her struggles and her victories. It provides a glimpse of how Annie began to see beautiful in what once was dark and painful.

And isn’t that what life is about? We grapple with the reason behind the bad things that happen to who we call the good people. Yet it is common to mankind. We will have tribulations in this world. It is inevitable. What we do with those experiences is vital to how we survive and live joyfully.

The book is divided into three sections. The first is Annie’s “Absence of Lovely” and the transparent way she describes her clashes against the difficulties in her life.

Section 2 is her “Search of Lovely” where she describes events that point her toward the beauty of living out her purpose, how the dark threads are part of her canvas as much as bright and gold ones. It is in this section that she makes suggestions to the reader to take some kind of action to look for the lovely in life.

The book ends with a brief “When I Found Lovely” as a summary of the search and the found prize of living her days joyfully, knowing God is a redeemer of all things and will bring beauty from ashes every single time.

I enjoyed sitting on my deck where nature’s loveliness surrounded me and reading Annie’s stories. They resonated with me. Life is not an easy ride. I don’t think it was meant to be. But it is full of beauty and lovely and joy and glory if we will open our eyes and look for it.

NOTE: I received a copy of the book Looking for Lovely, provided by B&H Publishing, for an honest review. The book was free. The words are my very own.